Salvatorian Home

Today was just another Sunday for me until SLing asked me to send her to Salvatorian Home Ayer Salak for IJC LEO Club support for the Home. At first, I was temporarily unable to figure out where the place would be but after some consultation with my buddy, Errol , I was able to get to the place after church service today. What greeted SLing, SYuen and me were a total surprise - Smiling young boys and girls together with their caretakers ( 6 Christian nuns )! SLing's colleague and friend, Teresa together with her husband, Richard and 3 other girls from LEO Club IJC were at hand to be with the children presenting them with their request for schoolbags.

As usual, the children were shy and all that but seeing them so happy with the KFC meal was a great blessing to my heart. I managed to mingle around with the children and  very first person I spoke to was a 15 year old boy , Chia Fong, I think. From here, he introduced me to Julian and her sister plus two other girls. As they spoke mainly Mandarin as that was the medium of communication in that Home, I was struggling with my "pasar" Mandarin but at least, I "scrapped" through with what I could. Slowly  but surely, I managed to move from table to table , getting to know the children a little better. I learnt that the oldest was an 18 year girl while the youngest is a 3 year old girl. There are 18 children in the Home and the House is well-kept , clean and the children are clean. Things are orderly stacked and as I made my rounds in the Home, I realised just how fortunate our own children had been lest these young ones.

15 year old boy, Julian (left) and his sister (pink t-shirt )

As we got around to speak to Sister Mary, one of the caretakers, I realised how much love she got for these children. She spoke very fondly of the children together with Sister Jane who is actually the one in charge of the Home. Sister Mary shared about Chai Hong ( Rainbow) who came in as a child and would not speak a word until 2 years later as she was just very depressed. Sister Mary glowed so much when explained how Chai Hong spoke after 2 years later. It was such a relief for her as she has not known any child who was so gloom and as depressed as Chai Hong. She explained that normally children would be so happy but Chai Hong was the complete opposite. Sister Jane then explained to us that some of the parents of the children would just abandoned their child at their gates due to reason that they are separating and so on. She further informed that some children were abandoned as parents owed loan sharks a lot of money and so they leave their children in the Home. There are also children who were left to the Home as parents remarried other people and their new spouses don't want the previous marriage children and thereby , they were also abandoned. Gosh! Hearing Sister Jane's explanation, my heart cringed with sadness and it broke my heart. My heart was so touched when I learned that one of the young girls was actually taking care of her younger brother even when the parents were never around in their house. Eventhough, I had only managed to spend a few hours at the Home, I felt as if they were children I have known for years. I played with sisters, Petrina & Patricia, brothers Wei Tan & Wei Tian (twins ), Julian and his sister, Chai Hong and her sister and a host of other children. 

I also took a good look at the Sisters running the Home and I am very impressed. Discipline is maintained while love is the essence. Children will be children while discipline must be maintained. It was good to see love and discipline going in hand in hand. The older boy and girls would clean the table, stacked the chairs and take the younger ones in to take care of them or even to help them do some reading on a Sunday afternoon. According to Sister Mary, they had lacked nothing as the Lord had provided to their needs with the helpings & donations from well-wishers an donors. What they needed most is for  more men & women/ young men & women coming by to spend time with the children. Talk to them, play with them and teach them something.  Isn't it ironic that we all needed that "time" too in our everyday life? I guess, they (the children ) are accustomed to people coming by for a few hours, shower some gifts, play with them for a while and then go back to their regular routine. 

Youngest girl of the home, 3 years old (green t-shirt) and her sister, 8 years old ( red t-shirt )

I guess, looking at these children , I found myself  thanking the Lord for His blessings upon my life. I am really touched in my heart whenever I get such opportunity to challenge my heart. We all could throw in a few fistful of ringgits to help them out but sometimes, it is not about money but what we can offer from our hearts that is being sought. Mundanely, we have been so accustomed to such practise while we are also accustomed to others doing the walking or the work. I must confess that I am equally  convictedly guilty of this too at times. Maybe, it is time, we pick up our feet and walk it out ourselves to see what we can do for these children. Sometimes it is not about the money either . It is about showering the love from our hearts with what we can do like just talking and sharing some of our caring with children like these.

As I stepped out of the Home, I could not help but imagine what type of parents would do such things to these children. Even out of desperation, I would still fight till death before I give up any of my children. Afterall, should we bring our children into this world only to let them go through such numbing trial and tribulations in their lives or even to abandon them in such a state? I could not imagine any parent doing this but yet, this is a reality in our society today. I really wish that young couples would really learn about this reality today and recognised the fact that if you bring a child to this world, you had better learn to take care of that child and be good parents. Don't just make babies at your pleasure and forget the responsibility part. Afterall, it's not just a 9 minute pleasure and a 9 months torture thing but a real responsibility at the end! Can you imagine the trauma and the abandonment feeling a child has to go through knowing that his/her parents don't want them or abandon them! It is not a nice feeling and that's why I am ever thankful that people like Sister Jane, Sister Mary and the rest of the sister are still out there doing their best to shower God's love to these children. 

Thank you, Sister Jane, Sister Mary and the rest of the Salvatorian sisters of this Home!~

Morning Rant...

This morning I had the most frustrating day at the hospital as I do my regular blood check. This time, there was a big crowd  as the previous day was a holiday and so, the people just piled up before 7.00am. Usually when I get there at 6.30am, there would only be a few of us but this time it was different. There was already a small crowd and everyone was jostling for a space to stand by the door to get in so that we could all get our numbers. I must say the crowd was not a good nor civil crowd this time. I don't know why but the oldies seemed more "rough" and "pushy" this time around. Usually, I would  find a lot of pleasant old men and women but this time, these oldies really test my patience to the maximum. Those who were late suddenly would cut queue and find a place to get ahead of me. Latecomers would then barged through and surged ahead. Being who I am, I usually give in and I did but I realised that I got "pushed" further down and I finally ended up with No.14 spot.

As poor SYuen was with me and her class would start at 8.00am, one look at my watch showed 7.30am and they were calling No.1. So, I decided there and then to send SYuen to college and then try to get back in time for my number. As it was raining heavily this morning, traffic was at a standstill and jam was the order of the day. Somehow with the grace of God, I managed to get SYuen to college and drive back to the hospital. Then it's a good 40 minutes of endless rounding to find parking at the hospital parking bays. I did not lose my cool but  was really frustrated inside despite my parking faith. Finally, I got one nice spot , parked my car and went for the blood test. I had to take a new number at it read "2067" and they were attending to number 2045!! I was amazed at myself too for not gloating over it though I know I'll be late for work today. 

When my turn finally came, I was attended by a trainee from Manipal Medical College. He is such a young man and I calmed his nerves as he calmed mine. At first it was tough for him to find my blood veins on the left hand and we decided to switch to my right hand which would have been easier. He finally exclaimed that he found it ( the vein ) and asked me to do the small pumping exercise as he tightened the strap on my upper arm. He then calmly inserted the needles into my veins and draw out the blood and said it's done. I immediately told him  in my throaty and hoarse voice, " Thank you, Mr. Teo". He dared not looked at me but like I said, I always make it a point to thank that person for whatever he/she did for me. It is a good practise, yunno.  It makes the person who received your "thank you" to feel appreciated and it changes the whole structure of the day for that one person. Wouldn't you agree? I could see that he was engrossed in trying to put the drawn out blood into the four little bottles in front of him. A few steps later, I could hear an audible, " Thank you , Mr. Foo ". Now, that brought the whole morning to a new level of vibrancy to the day. That young man learned what it means to say "thank you" in the humblest way. Me? I received an assignment and went to work immediately.  Though the day did not start all to well, our attitude in responding  what had happened is equally essential in our lives each. Respond positively with attitude of humbleness and intact, we should be able to get through the day, even when brokenness comes, even when difficult times comes, even when things just don't seemed right. I guess, I've come a long way, indeed from those old days! Hmmmmmnnnnnnnn....I wonder whether is it I am getting old or just getting wiser.... Gosh! I wouldn't know, actually if you asked me!

MMUCF Sharing.....

Last night, I had the humble opportunity to share the Word with the young men and women of   MMUCF Melaka. The theme of the night was "Love God" and it was essential for these young men and women to love God with all their hearts, mind, soul and strength. That was the passion in my heart as I shared this message. I must thank Chris, Hannah, Maureen, Janice and their team of MMUCF for giving me that opportunity to share the Word. I guess, they knew nothing of me but they took a chance on a fool like me to share the Word. I think, they are so very brave to allow me to speak at their weekly CF meeting where there other more highly decorated speakers who could have taken my place and spoken more eloquently and expounding the Word better. But instead, they allowed me, a flawed and cracked pot to take the stage last night. I am humbled and thankful for the invitation indeed.

I must admit that I was nervous and for the first time, I had to really "prepare " myself. As I arrived at the hall and after the formality greetings, I headed to a the room up the stairs to a quiet place to seek the Lord's strength for the night. How I sought the Lord so earnestly that He would filled the meeting place with His presence. I don't know if I had been a good speaker or not but I gave my very best from my heart. It had been quite rough week for me eventhough I was given enough time ( 5 days before the sharing night ) to prepare for the sharing. I don't know if I'll ever be asked to come back to share with the group again but I know that I had given my best for the young people. Last night, though my scripture verse was from John 15 : 12 - "My command is this: Love each other as  I have loved you." I did not expound on this verse but rather show them another verse of the scripture which would exactly explained the verse above. I had expounded on Luke 10:27 simply because the first ( Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength ) is the foundation of the second ( Love your neighbour as your own ) while the second is explicitly bound to the first. I do hope these young men and women have learned something and challenged in a way to love GOD passionately and to do HIS will.  

The keys are as follows:-

Love God with all your heart - Make GOD the treasure in your heart
Love God with all your mind - Sharpened your mind with purity, the things of God, learn reason; knowledge Love God will all your soul - Make Godly choices, obedience to God, humble & humility
Love God will all your strength - Use your Godly gifts/ gifting /talents to serve Him

I must confess that though I was having a pretty bad bout of flu, cough, fever and my throat was killing  me but it will NEVER stop me from coming to the meeting and to give praise and share about the goodness of the Lord. I am truly blessed by His grace upon me as I did not cough even once when sharing His Word! It was after I had finished that I was coughing like mad at an eatery to catch a good cup of coffee before I go off to sleep immediately. I am so thankful in my heart to have that opportunity. I guess, I asked for it when I asked the Lord to enlarge my tent. Yes, I have asked for the opportunity to share from children dept to the youth and now to the young people. He did just that for me! I do hope I did not offend anyone with what I say last night. I must admit that maybe they are not accustomed to hearing "hard message" but that's how I share the Word. Hopefully, I had not stepped on anyone's shoes but been a encouragement and a challenge to them.

As I was about to walk out of the hall, Chris gave me a "Thank You" card. I told him immediately that I will not take the "contents" between the card ( that has been my principle all these years ) and that I would be more grateful for just the card itself. For me, it wasn't about money, fame, popularity, status or whatsoever, it was more to honour and giving all due praises to my Maker. I am more contented to sing His praises than anything else in this world. For who I am without Him? I am what I am today is simply because of His love, His grace and His mercy for me. I don't know about you but that is as good as it gets!   

Learnt lesson...

Yesterday, I took time off to accompany SYuen for her medicals and it was a good day of learning. Though parking your car at the GH car park area can be quite a challenge, the waiting hours were also another factor. That day, SYuen's course mate, Lina joined us as she too wanted to have x-ray for her swollen knees. Arriving at the hospital, we immediately went to the  registration counter and what greeted us was really unexpected. The pews of chairs were filled to the brim with a sea of people and it is only about 10.00am that morning. After the usual registration, SYuen went in for her usual preliminary recording of weight and BP readings. Along the corridors, you could see rows of people waiting for their turn to visit the doctors ranging from the elderly to the middle-aged.

As SYuen went to her seat with her friend, I was at the Consultation Room corridor and watched the people's antics. I love watching people and seeing what they do all the time. I am fascinated with the human reaction and interaction. I learned a lot by looking at people. There was one elderly man who tried very hard to jump queue while there was another impatient lady who brought her mother for medical attention. She was complaining about people jumping queue and this went to the ears of the Chief Nurse (Ketua Jururawat). In honesty , the Chief Nurse was like one busy honey bee that morning and she was a fine example of how a leader should act. I looked at her and how she handled the situations before her. She took the trouble to explained to the old man that he cannot jump queue and that his turn will come after the next 4 patients. She seated him down and asked her staff if anyone had biscuits or drinks for this old man. She then proceeded to the complaining lady and told her that their clinics are overflowed with people and that no one is jumping the queue. She even went on to explain that her staff were also overwhelmed by the  sudden surge of patients. She asked everyone to bear with it calmly.  She then told the lady to bring her mother along and ushered her to a nearby seat and assured her that everything is done accordingly. I could see that the "Sister" as she is fondly called by her staff to be one dedicated nurse. The way she moves to encourage her staff and to encourage the people despite the mounting pressures and mounting patients were tremendous. It is staff like her that brought a lot of cheer to the public's heart. I must say that this unselfish act on her part brought so much honour to the nursing profession. 

As I leaned on the walls of the corridors, I saw elderly people in their " hot rods" a.k.a wheelchair being moved from one room to another. I saw one elderly woman who stared blankly and body slumped in the hot rod waiting for consultation while her son asked me if I was okay to let them go through first. I was okay with it, Then there's this old man in the hot rod, shaking all over and with a tube running down his nose. His family asked too if they could meet the doctor earlier than my daughter. Again, I said go ahead . All in all, five people went ahead of SYuen before we actually met with the doctor. When SYuen eventually managed to see the doctor, SYuen had a clean bill of health and I was happy. Almost ecstatic and relieved that everything went on fine. But as we turn to move away from the Consultation Rooms, more people poured into the area. I wonder how would the young doctors cope with the influx of patients. I guess, they would just had to have the passion to be doctors. So far, I don't see the enthusiastic doctors along the corridors of consultation. All I see are young chickos with attitudes and one long queue of disgruntled patients. I guess, the doctors desperately needed to learn a lot from the Chief Nurse (KJ) in terms of handling the patients. Maybe the medical profession in GH are slowly improving their images and professionalism but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Indeed there is still much to do....

       

Little People Rules!

Fun time with Ryan and Ashley

1)  Ryan :   Ah John, do you know Optimus Prime?

     Me: Yes, he was sitting beside me just now. We became friends.

    ( Ryan roll his eyes and laughed rolling on the floor! )

2) Ryan :  Ku mah, I don't want to do spelling!

    Ku mah :  But, ma says you have to learn your ejaan. 

    ( Ryan cries and bawled his eyes out with tears!!! )

3) Ku mah : Ashley, must go to toilet. Mar mah will pump!

    Ashley : Don't want! Bad Mar mah! Bad Mar mah!

    ( Ashley cries like there is never end to tomorrow! ) 

4) Ku mah : ( trying to pacify Ashley from crying ) Ok! We will go to Mc Donald, ok?

                    What do you want ?

    Ashley :  ( In between tears and mumbling) French ...fires.....and.....ice - creeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaamm! 

                  ( cries again ! ) 

5) Ryan :  Ah John, is there any Iron Man?

    Me : Yes, I am the Iron Man ( sheepishly )

    Ryan : Ah John , you are the fat Iron Man. You're so fat, you cannot fly one!

    Me:  Hahhahahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa........

6) Ryan: Ah John, why is there a hole in Iron Man?

    Me : Ryan, I also have hole.

    Ryan : ( looking funnily at me ) Show me-lar

   I lift up my t-shirt and show him my belly button. Ryan went on the floor and laughed!

7) We were watching Beauty and the Geek Australia 3 when Ryan said this:

    Ryan : Ku mah, Ah John is the beauty and you are the beast!

    Me :  Hahahhahaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......

8) Ryan : Ah John, do you know where Decepticons come from?

    Me:  Ryan, they came from a land called Monster Cons and they have to sit bus to come to Seremban                     and then they have their dinner at Kong Ming. 

    Ryan : Ah Johnnnnnn........ Haiyah! ( rolled his eyes and laughed )

9) Me :    Ryan, you need to practise your music on the piano.
    Ryan:   But my hands are tired.
    Me :     Then you don't eat Mc Donalds-lor. Your hands tired, isn't it?
    Ryan :   Ah John....noooooooooooooo.............

10)Ryan : Ah John, let's watch "Ah Boys to Men 2"
      Me  :  OK. Which part you like?
     Ryan :  The part " You get shot already. Your hands fly here, your head goes here, your legs go there!    You're dead, dead, dead" ( Rolled on the bed and laughed )
      Me :  Yup, one " twisted" little kid indeed!